walkman

personal stereo

noun wok-MAN Rare

Origin: from Sony's brand name 'Walkman', adopted into French

Also means

Walkman

Usage Note

Walkman entered French as a generic noun for any portable cassette or CD player with headphones, despite being a Sony trademark. It is masculine and its plural is typically walkmans in informal usage. The device has largely been replaced by smartphones, but the word persists colloquially to describe any personal listening device worn on the go.

Examples

"Il écoutait de la musique sur son walkman dans le métro."

Natural Translation

He was listening to music on his walkman on the metro.

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